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Home , Music of Peru

Music and Dance of Indians and Mestizos in an Andean valley of

This book deals with the social context of the and dance of the people of the Callejón de Huaylas, an Andean valley in Peru. It describes and analyzes-the connection between music and dance, people, and social events. The musical instruments, the repertoire, and the texts were studied as part of - and reflection of - the society, as well as the performers, their public, and the events during which they met.

The anthropological research started from the assumption that music and dance are nonverbal means of communication. They are a 'language of actions', a way of communicating with each other and part of culture as a system of shared ideas.

The Callejón de Huaylas

1 The Callejón de Huaylas is an Andean valley in North-Central Peru. It is about 150 kilometers long and its valley floor is situated at an altitude of 2,200-3,100 meters above sea level. According to the census of 1981, the population of the Callejón de Huaylas amounted to 232,176 persons, 86,433 of whom urban and 145,743 rural. Many of the rural settlements of the area are corporate peasant communities: they are located on marginal land, which tends to be exploited by means of a traditional technology involving the members of the community. Production is mainly for subsistence, and the community has jurisdiction over the disposal of land.

The area is inhabited by a population of Quechua-speaking Indian peasants and Spanish- speaking Mestizos (persons of mixed parentage). A strong opposition exists between these groups, from a socioeconomic as well as from a geographic viewpoint: the poor Indian peasants live in hamlets at high altitudes, whereas the relatively wealthy Mestizos live in towns along the highway. An intermediate group of acculturated Indians or Cholos is growing rapidly. The Indian population is undergoing a process of acculturation (and possible loss of cultural identity) because of contact with urban Mestizos, temporary migration to coastal towns or Lima, modern education, military service, and tourism. All this leads to a fast diffusion of the dominant urban culture, which-is reflected in the music and dance of the area.

In 1970, the area was devastated by an earthquake, which had great economic and social consequences, the more so since the revolutionary military government of that time undertook large agricultural, administrative and educational reforms. After the new highway to the Callejón de Huaylas was finished in 1976, tourism became a major industry. The beauty of the area, its fine climate and the possibilities for trekking and mountain climbing attract Peruvian as well as foreign tourists.

Background of the research

Chapter 1 serves as an introduction to the description and analysis of the material gathered in the field. It deals with the theoretical and historical background of the research, followed by a general description of the Callejón de Huaylas and the people living there. The anthropology of music and dance is a relatively new discipline which studies these types of expressive culture in their social context, as part of the culture. Both music and dance are means of communication and it should, therefore, be possible to gain an insight into a particular society by studying them. In order to give some depth to the synchronic data gathered by me, historical data on Peru and Peruvian music have been consulted when available in the form of archaeological data, books written by chroniclers at the time of the Spanish conquest, and studies by 20th century scholars. The people of the Callejón de Huaylas are discussed in their social, economical and political context, in order to better understand their music and dance.

Music and dance

Chapter 2 describes the music and dance of the Callejón de Huaylas: the instruments and how they are acquired - e.g. constructed in the area or bought in the provincial capital or Lima - as well as the way the instruments are combined to form orchestras, e.g. their use. Then, the religious and secular repertoire is discussed. is played during processions, either by that accompany traditional dance groups or by brass bands. The secular

2 repertoire is classified by the people of the Callejón de Huaylas into vernacular, Creole, and international music. Vernacular are: the , the pasacalle, the yaraví, and the danza. Creole are: the (Peruvian) waltz, the , and the . International are: the so-called 'fox incaico' (the well-known 'El condor pasa' and 'Vírgenes del Sol' belong to this genre), the pasodoble, the corrido and other types of Mexican songs, the cumbia, and the salsa.

The huayno

Of the vernacular genre, the huayno is the most popular type: 85% of the songs recorded and analyzed by me were . They are played in a secular context, but are often closely related to religious events, such as when small groups of instruments play in bars in the periphery of the procession during a patron saint festival. The huayno, being the focal point of the musical culture of the Callejón de Huaylas, is dealt with separately: its musicological structure is discussed, whereafter 'Río Santa', a much-performed huayno, is analyzed.

The contents of song texts of the Callejón de Huaylas, mostly huaynos, gathered by means of recording and buying song books, were analyzed and related to the social, economical and political situation of the area. They are divided into three categories:

1) the ideal situation, represented by the homeland and the love of the parents; 2) the suffering in the present; and 3) the evasion from the suffering through drinking or leaving. A number of songs, in Quechua and/or Spanish, are given, with the translation in English.

Other than being a musical genre, the huayno also is the most popular type of (vernacular) dance in the Callejón de Huaylas. The dances, like the types of music, may be divided into vernacular, Creole, and international genres. Whereas the secular huayno is a 'baile' danced by couples, the purely instrumental religious 'danzas' are performed by groups, of which quite a number exist in the area. Many of these may be seen in the film of the procession on the octava of the patron saint festival of Carhuaz. Some of these dance groups are a reminder of the pre-Columbian past, whereas others represent the battles fought against the Spaniards, or persons of colonial times.

A more recent development are the performance-oriented folkloristic music and dance groups that perform on stage rather than as part of a religious or secular communal event. They are discussed more extensively in chapter 4.

The performers

In chapter 3 the background of a number of performers is sketched, based on 27 interviews with individual musicians and directors of music and dance groups. Their musical, educational, and economic background is discussed: whether they consider themselves professionals or amateurs, the amount of money they earn, their profession other than being a , and the way the repertoire is learned. Their views on what music means to them and what purposes it serves is given verbatim.

3 Individual musicians or small groups of musicians and dancers are most common in the Callejón de Huaylas; even the brass bands are relatively small. Most of the musicians play various instruments: at times in different orchestras, but also within the same group. Most of the groups have a director, often someone who founded the group or a member with a lot of experience and authority. Almost all the performers are part-time musicians and dancers.In daily life, most of them are farmers who earn some money by being a carpenter, construction worker, shopkeeper, driver, etc. or by migrating to the coast for a few months each year. They are mostly Indians or Cholos, with the exception of the members of the folk music groups who are predominantly Mestizos.

There generally exists a close relationship between the performers and their public: they live and work in the same area, attend the same festivals, and are in regular contact with each other.

Sponsors are very important, since they represent a 'hyphen' between the performers and the public. They pay (part of) the expenses of a festival, out of devotion to a particular Saint of Virgin, but also to increase their prestige in the community. Without sponsors, there are no festivals.

In the case of the music played in the folkloristic taverns ('peñas folklóricas') a shift in context is taking place; the music is being 'internationalized', taken away from its owners, as it were, thereby losing its individuality and becoming anonymous. Performers often do not belong to the same social group as the spectatorsv and the music does not mean the same to each of them. It is a type of performance that is contaminated by the presentational techniques of the mass media like microphones and other types of recording equipment. The performers and the audience do not share the same fundamental cultural values and cannot communicate with each other: the distance between them is greater than that between the stage and the auditorium.

In order to illustrate the general information obtained by participation, observation and interviews, the 'portraits' of a musician, Lorenzo Piscoche, and of the musicians of one village, Tumpa, will be drawn. Both case studies may be considered representative: Lorenzo Piscoche because he is an accomplished traditional musician, and Tumpa because it is a village where a variety of types of music are found.

The events

Chapter 4 describes events during which I observed music and dance. After a general introduction on the events celebrated in the Callejón de Huaylas, these are classified along two sets of oppositions: religious/secular and communal/private, resulting in four basic categories:

1) religious communal events; 2) religious private events; 3) secular private events; and 4) secular communal events.

4 Most traditional music and dance is performed during religious communal events such as patron saint festivals, Carnival, Holy Week and Corpus Christi. Patron saint festivals are festivals of devotion as well as diversion, and music is performed by all types of ensembles present in the Callejón de Huaylas, with the exception of the Creole and folkloristic ensembles. Religious music is played during the processions, when the musicians and dancers walk backwards in front of the image of the patron saint, whereas the brass walks behind it. Afterwards, vernacular (huaynos and pasacalles) is played on the streets or in small bars. Some dance groups have their own specific music, and dance huaynos with bystanders as well. The patron saint festivals of Saint Elizabeth of Huaylas and Our Lady of Mercy of Carhuaz are described in detail. Carnival is a festival of diversion more than of devotion; the instruments most heard are and drums, although brass bands are popular nowadays. Holy Week and Corpus Christi are festivals of devotion in which no dance groups participate. The Holy Week in Huaraz was accompanied by brass bands and the Corpus Christi procession in Caraz by flutes and drums. Most of the religious communal events are of Roman Catholic origin, but many show pre-Columbian traits. At private religious events such as baptisms and weddings no religious music is performed, but mostly vernacular and Creole music played by , harp and violin, a string orchestra, or a banda. The private secular events like birthdays and other small parties resemble the private religious ones. Communal secular events may be divided into traditional and modern, c.q. rural and urban events. Traditionally, and drum music was played during communal work like harvesting, house building, road construction, etc. This custom is falling into disuse, but I was present at two occasions where communal work parties were accompanied by flute and drum music: cleaning up a cemetery, and clearing rubble in order to rebuild a cathedral. More modern types of secular communal events are civic holidays, when parades and public serenades are held, performances by traveling groups of musicians and dancers, and contests organized during fairs. These are organized urban events, mainly for entertainment purposes, to which entrance fees are charged. However, it still is local music, performed by local musicians for a local public. Dances ('bailes sociales') are Mestizo affairs, where tropical orchestras and brass bands are the preferred types of orchestras.

The events during which music and dance are performed, be they religious or secular, private or communal, are considered expressions of 'communitas': an expression of community structure and solidarity through periodic ceremonial events which interpret and reaffirm common values and identity. Music and dance are important mechanisms of communication and underline the communitas.

A recent development in the category of entertainment music are the folkloristic music and dance groups that perform on stage rather than as part of a religious or secular communal event: local musicians and dancers in touristic restaurants in urban centers and folkloristic groups in touristic taverns in Huaraz. Latin American folk music is played live by groups of young middle class Mestizos, alternated with recorded Western disco music. The first of these taverns in the Callejón de Huaylas opened in 1978, around the time that tourism to the area started to increase. The State, in this case the Regional Directorate for Industry, Commerce, Tourism and Integration in Huaraz, stimulates tourism by studying touristic potential, improving the infrastructure, and generally creating favorable conditions for tourism. This Directorate is also involved in the patron saint festival of Carhuaz, which it promotes and

5 coordinates. It also helps to organize regional fairs as well as music and dance contests, thus serving as a culture broker.

The national context

Chapter 5 deals with the ways the is incorporated into the national context and touches on topics such as migration, mass media, the locales in Lima and Huaraz where popular and folkloristic music and dance are performed, and the effects of tourism.

Because of stagnation of production, population growth and poverty, many people from the Callejón de Huaylas (mostly Cholos and Mestizos) leave their home towns temporarily or permanently and migrate to Lima and other coastal towns. The migrants often join regional clubs whose members have a common place of birth, and bring their music and dance with them. These clubs, therefore, serve as a channel of diffusion of Andean music. Fifty years ago, Lima was a Creole town with few people from the provinces and few or no regional clubs, where Andean music was rarely heard. Indian life was carried on 'behind the back of the city', in stadiums and popular theatres. But times have changed, and the Indian component of Lima life can no longer be ignored. Now, Creole music is superseded by Andean music like the huayno, which is fast becoming the of Peru. Due to the great demand for records by migrants and by radio stations, the record industry prospered. Some nationally- known vocalists that are originally from the Callejón de Huaylas but are living and working in Lima were interviewed: Pastorita Huaracina, Princesita de Yungay and Gorrión Andino. Interest in the traditional Indian music and dance of Peru was fostered by 'indigenismo', a movement for the revival of the Indian phenomenon, and - related to this - an interest in the folklore of the Indians. Folklorists, in their turn, have shaped the cultural politics of Peru through various institutions, by registering performers and regulating the media in order to preserve, protect, and promote the national folklore. Tourism reinforced this reappraisal of the Indian cultures of Peru.

Whereas the music and dance performed in the stadiums and the regional clubs are part of the cultural baggage of the working class migrants, the touristic taverns represent Creole and foreign sentiments: middle class Limeflos go there to find their 'Indian roots' and tourists are there looking for the 'Indian side' of Peru. Here, folk arts are commercialized and, therefore, may lose much of their spontaneity and originality. More or less traditional Latin American folk music is played, as well as 'música nueva', protest music that originated in Chile as a means of political propaganda but has become more commercial in time. People who go to listen to what they think is 'authentic' music in the taverns are rarely aware of how acculturated many of these Indians are and to what extent their Indianness is exploited by the Mestizo empresarios.

The influence of tourism on the traditional music of the Callejón de Huaylas is not very widespread yet, and remains mostly confined to the patron saint festival of Carhuaz and the taverns in Huaraz. For the time being, the traditional and the folkloristic music have not influenced each other much, and the music of the taverns may be considered 'enclave' music. However, with tourism (and folklore) being promoted, the enclave character may be broken

6 down rapidly. Then again, if traditional music is played and recorded by the tavern groups and thus propagated, a demonstration effect may follow, leading to pride in the music of the Callejón de Huaylas and conservation of the traditional music, thereby counteracting the cultural dominance of urban and Western music.

Concluding remarks

The functions of music and dance are manifold: they allow emotional expression, give aesthetic pleasure, entertain, communicate, enforce conformity to social norms, and validate social institutions and religious rituals. In essence, they contribute to the continuity and stability of culture and the integration of society.

The music and dance of the Callejón de Huaylas reflect a more or less undifferentiated society: groups are small and have no obvious leaders, and all performers are equal, be they flute and drum players or members of a brass band; soloists are relatively rare. Since the music of the Callejón de Huaylas is so community-oriented, the stereotype of the "little Indian playing his flute all by himself in the mountains" does not seem to apply to this area, where music and dance are generally collective. Vernacular types of music and dance make up most of the repertoire and are performed by Indians and Cholos, mainly during communal religious events. The traditional group dances and the huaynos in Quechua may be means of reinforcing cultural identity and of rejecting the dominant urban culture. The Mestizos show a preference for Creole and Latin music and dance, mainly during secular events.

In this society where two ethnic groups coexist, together with an intermediary group, the performing arts serve to express the economic, political and social differentiation: the Indians, Cholos and Mestizos of the Callejón de Huaylas each have their preferred instruments and repertoire of music and dance. One of the (few) ways in which the cultural identity of the marginated Indians and Cholos may be expressed is through music, song, and dance. Although it is very difficult to separate pre-Columbian from post-Columbian traits, it is obvious that the music and dance show cultural continuity as well as the influence of the Hispanic culture that was imposed upon the Indians at the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century, and the Western culture imposed on them in the 20th century. However, it can at the same time be said that they have been adapted to fit the particular use of the people of the Callejón de Huaylas, be they Indians, Cholos, or Mestizos.

I would like to finish with the following recommendation: that the music and dance of the Callejón de Huaylas be stimulated and promoted through serious study and audio-visual registration, in close cooperation with the performers, leading to a larger participation by them and reinforcing their cultural identity.

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